Digital Workshop Essential #2: Find the question beneath the question

“I wish the church would stop giving me answers to questions I’m not asking.”

During our research, this comment from one teen really stood out to us.

Today’s teenagers can access almost any information. They can instantaneously receive thousands of possible answers to just about any question—plus a list of new ones.

But at home and at church, the ever-widening culture gap can make it feel easy to shy away from some of their deepest questions about faith and meaning.

In our hours of research with teenagers from every corner of the country, we discovered that the root of the many, many questions teenagers today are asking really distilled down to just three. That's why our second essential is something so simple, and yet it makes a big difference.

How can you find the “question beneath the question” when you’re talking with teenagers? 

We knew you’d ask. Because you care about young people—it’s why you’re here. Brad and Kara’s conversation illuminated how far off the mark we can be, even when we think we’re listening to our young people. It’s not always easy, but these 3 "big questions" can guide you in recognizing your teenagers’ underlying questions.

What questions about life and faith are the teenagers I know asking?

How are those questions signposts of their search for identity, belonging, and purpose?
 

Take me to Essential 3